Novartis Posts Loss of Rs 1.18 Crore in Q3

New Delhi: Drugmaker Novartis India Ltd on Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs 1.18 crore for the third quarter that ended on December 31, 2014.

The company had registered a net profit of Rs 15.23 crore for the corresponding period a year ago, it said in a filing to the BSE.

Net sales of the company for the quarter under review declined 2.52 per cent to Rs 213.02 crore from Rs 218.54 crore in the year-ago period.

As part of its global portfolio transformation, Novartis approved the sale of its OTC division to GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Pvt Ltd, a consumer healthcare joint venture between Novartis AG and GSK, for a consideration of Rs 109.7 crore.

The move follows a global deal struck in April last year, under which Swiss-based Novartis AG had agreed with UK-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc to create a global consumer healthcare joint venture, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Private Ltd (GSK CPL).

Its board also agreed on April 22, 2014 to divest its global Animal Health business to Eli Lilly and Company, USA.

In the quarter under review, the company has reported 4.72 crore under the head extraordinary items as the cost incurred to the above transactions.

Shares in Novartis, on Wednesday, ended at Rs 676.90 apiece on the BSE, up 0.07 per cent from the previous close.